Family matters
When Robby King and his daughter, Meredith decided to hike the Appalachian Trail, his wife Nancy decided that she could support them far better by driving an RV to various road crossings and providing them sustenance and a bed for the night. While Robby and Meredith covered the standard 2,200-mile length of the Appalachian Trail, Nancy chalked up over 10,000 miles of driving to back up their effort. Their story eloquently demonstrates the importance of familial love and support as hikers take on this daunting challenge. The physical changes, particularly in Robby, show the toll that this hike can take on the physique, yet with each of them encouraging the other, they made it to the end just a few weeks ago for that picture of pictures at the top of Katahdin.. Not only did Nancy feed and house her family on the trail, she took a major responsibility in ensuring that their blog was kept up to date. You can follow them here. This episode features the last interview I'll be able to do with Jessa before I leave for California. She only has a few weeks to go and I'm very proud of the part our podcast may have played in helping her during her hike. I'm also, of course, ridiculously proud of Jessa herself. When I return I'll be doing a complete program with Jessa, her boyfriend Nick and her mother Joan. If you can't wait until then, follow her blog and see how she fares. If you'd like to pledge to support my hike of the John Muir Trail, which I'm doing to support families in my local community, please consider pledging a few bucks for Family Partnership Center by emailing Bridget Harry at bharry@familypartnership.org. Thanks to everybody who has done so already.